(State Journal-Register)—A new federal lawsuit has been filed saying that child care providers and home caregivers are having their First Amendment rights violated by being forced into a labor union.
The lawsuit, filed by the Liberty Justice Center and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, is seeking to overturn a state law that says the Service Employees International Union is the “exclusive representative” of thousands of child care providers and home caregivers.
“By doing so, the state and (SEIU) are violating plaintiff’s rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution … to choose individually with whom they associate to petition the government for redress of grievances,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six people who work either as child care providers or home caregivers.
The conservative Illinois Policy Institute issued an announcement about the lawsuit, quoting attorney Jacob Huebert of the Liberty Justice Center.
“The government has no right to appoint an ‘exclusive representative’ to speak on citizens’ behalf just because they benefit from a government program,” Huebert said in the statement. “Under the First Amendment, individuals get to decide for themselves what they will say to the government and who will speak on their behalf.
The lawsuit says former Gov. Rod Blagojevich “initiated a scheme to force personal assistants to accept and financially support” SEIU in exchange for the union’s political support and campaign contributions through a 2003 executive order designating SEIU as the exclusive representative for those workers.
A similar order was issued in 2005 for day care workers. In both cases, the executive orders were followed by state laws.
“Plaintiffs oppose being forced to accept (SEIU) as their exclusive representative for petitioning and contracting with the state,” the lawsuit says. “They do not want to be forced into an agency relationship with this advocacy group or otherwise associated with (SEIU’s) petitioning, contracts and other expressive activities. A state infringes on these First Amendment rights … when it compels citizens to associate with an expressive organization or its expressive activities.”
SEIU Healthcare Illinois vice president James Muhammad said the lawsuit filed by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Liberty Justice Center is nothing new.
“NRTWF’s sole aim is to weaken, if not totally destroy, every avenue for workers to have a voice on the job through a union,” he said in a prepared statement. “Home care and child care workers united in SEIU Healthcare are proud of the gains won over several decades — from raising home care workers’ wages from $1 an hour to $13 and raising rates for child care providers, to trainings that enhance the quality of care delivered. SEIU Healthcare Illinois will continue its mission to improve the quality of life for both consumers and care givers despite opposition from NRTWF and other anti-union forces.”